Our History>>

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LeeAllen and Rebecca Leier, along with their eight children, started Heartland Bison Ranch in 1996 on a quarter of land south of Rugby ND. Their first ten bison calves hit the ground in the spring of 1997. The summer of 1998, Lee and Rebecca made the move to purchase 700+ acres in southern Pierce County and growth continued with the herd reaching over 100 stock cows. With a large continuous piece of land, it was time to put down roots and with a whole family effort, the Leier's established a new homestead and ranch headquarters for Heartland Bison Ranch. 

 

The ranch is steeped in history.  Here at Heartland Bison we have been fortunate to have the North Dakota State Archaeologist visit our ranch, half a dozen times, for summer classes. This has led to some interesting discoveries. Based on the number of bison bone fragments and other artifacts, the Heartland Bison Ranch land seems to have been used as a camp, by Native Americans, for processing buffalo after the hunt. The historic relationship between bison and Native Americans living in the area has been documented on the ranch.  It appears that this relationship goes back for hundreds of years. There has also been documentation and evidence found on the ranch that George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry used an area on the ranch as a reconnaissance camp. Artifacts found included a portion of a rifle, buckles and some uniform buttons.

 

In 2015, we changed our course to pursue a mission of not only raising the best quality bison we can, but to also make sure that we use our bison to create and improve the land which we steward. Every year we continue to work hard at installing the infrastructure needed to work with our bison to mimic the movements of nature and holistically manage the ranch for all life to benefit in our ecosystem. The benefits of these decisions continue to give us the passion to move down this path of regenerative agriculture with excitement and enthusiasm.

 

As we look to the future, Heartland Bison Ranch will continue to promote the many health and environmental benefits of bison.  We have a mission to help people understand and appreciate the prairie ecosystem and  THE GREAT AMERICAN BISON,  the animal we all know as the Buffalo, the animal that we at the ranch have grown to love. 

 

"From the Heart of America......... The Legend Continues"